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Entry tags:
- attack on titan: mikasa ackerman,
- bloodborne: lady maria,
- castlevania: hector,
- fgo: cu chulainn,
- fgo: ozymandias,
- fgo: scathach,
- fgo: wolfgang amadeus mozart,
- fz: arturia pendragon,
- fz: diarmuid ua duibhne,
- fz: iskandar,
- fz: waver velvet,
- hunter x hunter: killua zoldyck,
- idolish7: momo,
- mdzs: jiang cheng,
- monster duchess: leslie,
- original: saori nakagawa,
- star wars: merrin,
- the witcher: geralt of rivia
DARKNESS AND FROST log
A message is sent on the network on the 20th, informing the Mirrorbounds about the developments regarding a quest posted earlier in the month on the board.
Word comes from the Wilders’ headquarters in Dorchacht that there haven’t been that many sightings of the Nuckelavee for a long time. Most assumed that whatever the Mirrorbounds did must have driven the ghastly creatures away for good. Clearly, not a single person missed them. It is a nasty surprise to learn that not only did they not disappear completely, but now, angrier than ever, they pose a threat to Aefenglom as well.
THE NORTHERN OUTPOST ( 21st - 26th )
The Northern Outpost has seen steady development since its establishment, but nothing on a scale that could make it possible to survive an attack of demonic beasts. So it becomes a whirlwind of activity. There are ditches to dig, magical wards and barriers to set up, weapons and armour need inspection and some alchemical supplies are easier found in the surrounding forest rather than back in Aefenglom, but no one should go procuring them alone. But there are more mundane tasks too! With the sudden increase in population, the self-appointed kitchen staff of the Northern Outpost is barely managing to keep all the mouths fed and all the dishes washed (and pesky rodents kept away). All help will be enthusiastically welcomed no matter the level of culinary aptitude. There’s enough work for everyone.
Not far from the Outpost itself, a new structure rises from the ground quickly, incorporating a nearby shallow cave. That’s the Enclosure, the place where researchers who intend to study the Nuckelavee plan to lure one of the creatures. The construction has barely started, and there is much to do before it can hold its captive inside. Engineers, Arachne, Witches adept in Enchantment and Abjuration - all are welcome to lend their hands (as many as they can spare) in this scientific endeavor. It could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to further or even create a completely new field of study!
Mirrorbounds are encouraged to return and rest within the city, but should you decide to stay for the night, the moods are rather sour and tense. Still, people do try to enjoy the evening break, at least those who get it - night guards work in shifts. Someone makes a bonfire and encourages sharing stories as the night passes to lift morale. A chilling Nuckelavee scream might stop the relaxing and put everyone on edge. But it seems the creatures are refusing to come out just yet.
THE SLUMS 21st - 26th
Sprawling from the Other Side of the Bright Wall, the Outer City grows outward with no particular organisation or order, with buildings’ integrity decreasing the closer they are to the edge of the Wilde. While some of the inhabitants greet the aid provided with gratitude, there are many who treat it with distrust and their own fate at the mercy of yet another incomprehensible danger with blood-chilling apathy. Much work has been done by numerous Mirrorbound to help those living in the Slums but the memory of all those lost to the frost when the city shut its gates and left them to die casts a long shadow on all attempts to defend against this new threat.
Deprived of the comforts of magitech ubiquitous for the citizens of the city proper, the inhabitants of the Slums find their own creative ways to provide life’s necessities to each other. Carrying water has always been a task for younger ones in the families. A worrying number of those that go fetch water from a far away stream do not come home on time. They could have gotten distracted chasing a stray dog, roped in some mischief by other kids, or genuinely lost. With the new threat lurking in the darkness, people get increasingly nervous. What would look like harmless disobedience in quieter times now turns into an emergency. Investigate where the missing children have gone, find them and bring them home if you can.
Not all are happy for the help. There’s a certain figure frequently spoken about and often seen at the scenes of the especially vicious attacks: a man with unkempt hair and ragged clothing prophesying that those very horrors are no accident. That the beasts are a punishment for a terrible offence: accepting the foreign devils - those who came through the Mirrors - into the city. As time passes and the attacks continue, it starts to become obvious those who were in contact with the Mirrorbound are more likely to become targets of the hellish creatures, which lends credence to the madman’s words. Some denizens of the slums are just scared, but some become suspicious of the very presence of any Mirrorbounds in the area. Even those that come to help. Calm downthe fearful, convince the sceptics or find the sower of this panic and make him stop spreading his incendiary message.
Some people have locked themselves in their homes and refuse to go out. You could try to reason with them or simply bring supplies at the door. Or try to convince them to help with building a protective wall around the Slums, sturdy enough to stay. Some of the people who open their doors might show low-level signs of Cwyld infection. They wonder if you’re still willing to help them knowing that?
When the darkness of night emboldens the Nuckelavee to venture further into the Slums proper, a group of Mirrorbounds take to patrolling the streets. But they could use more help. Protect those unfortunate enough to walk the streets at that time, chase away or kill the creatures that dared to come closer, and fight to protect the poor souls they chose to hunt.
NIGHT OF THE HUNT (night between 26th-27th)
Are you prepared for the fight of your life? You better be!
A heavy blizzard rages on the night of the 26th, giving a strange glow to the camp in the darkness as the light is dithered among falling snowflakes. Visibility is low, but some believe that nature itself can be used to help the hunters and defenders. To those who wish to take on this responsibility, several enchanted wands are given, with quick instructions how to use them to direct the winds of the blizzard for a short time. They can be used either to protect the warriors or against the creatures. The wands have only a few charges and will break upon using them up.
Every Mirrorbound and Wilder either present from the start or joining the group through the portal connecting with Aefenglom will be given a quick rundown of the camp, where the protection wards lie, what powers the barriers, and where weapons can be found. There are two sets of barriers around the camp -- the outer one that has multiple holes for the creatures to pour into, and the inner barrier that has to be held at all cost, as it protects people within. The plan is to lure the Nuckelavee for a frontal attack, let them pass through the outer barrier, let the inner barrier stop them, and then— close the barrier behind them, effectively shutting them in a walled ring.
Then they can be exterminated safely. Stun them, kill them, use spells or pointy sticks or guns — and maybe just maybe you can capture one alive. Fortunately, they don’t seem to have any kind of natural resistance towards mundane or magical weapons. They are just tough to kill and incredibly vicious, but limiting their movement should do the trick.
The barriers and wards only last full-strength as long as they are powered so Witches not focused on fighting are encouraged to do a recharging run along the campsite. Anyone needing a breather from the fray or whose focus is better spent on support can also bring ammo, or more weapons to counter the broken (or stolen) ones. Dragging out wounded fighters into the safety of the camp and healing them is also an important task, as neither Mirrorbounds nor Wilders lack in people who would fight to their last breath.
That’s the plan. How does it go in reality, though?
The Nuckelavee attack starts with chilling shrieks all around the Outpost before they emerge from the darkness. Those who have not yet met any of them will have a chance to witness that their aggression and looks are as terrifying as the stories said. They resemble a horse fused with a rider, with sharp teeth and without skin, raw body exposed. The creatures are not infected but are vicious, hardy, and strong, and they hunger for human and Monster flesh alike. Some might pick up weapons thrown at them; others will circle and try to isolate their chosen targets. Should they be angered, while in a furious rage they gain both speed and strength, but they lose focus and lack strategic thinking. So enraging them can break the formation, but it also makes them far more dangerous up close. They are susceptible to both magical and physical attacks alike, and beheading (of either the flayed-open horse head or the screaming man's head) will put them down permanently.
Be mindful of your comrades! It’s easy to lose each other in the blizzard. Nuckelavee don’t bleed red (they don’t bleed much at all), so any red trails on the snow belong to an ally. Don’t let the beasts drag wounded away. Get them to the healers who wait within the camp enclosed with the inner barrier.
During the fight, several crystal devices that strengthen the outer barrier start malfunctioning. That means the outer barrier cannot be closed shut, meaning a change of plans is in order. Several brave volunteers are needed from among Wilders and Mirrorbounds to leave the safety of the inner barrier and take the battle directly to the creatures, while locating and exchanging the malfunctioning crystals. This is an incredibly dangerous job, and everyone willing to undertake it is encouraged not to do so alone. Once the trap is sprung and the outer barrier shut, it would also lock those volunteers out of the safety of the camp -- unless they’re willing to try a teleport spell or wait for someone inside to handle the teleporting for them. The help will come, but until it does, they are on their own and straggling Nuckelavee that did not fall into the trap might still pose a danger to them...
The fight drags for what feels like hours, and the air grows colder and colder. Meanwhile, some of the trapped Nuckelavee figure out that they might get into the camp if they find holes within the barrier -- and one makes its way inside. Through the heavy snow, it might not be obvious at first, but something is happening within the camp… The Nuckelavee that furiously breach the barrier wreak havoc behind the safe line, attacking anyone it sees until it’s killed or subdued.
Eventually, after what feels like an eternity, all of the creatures fall and the dead remain under the snow. Well… most of them. There were attempts to capture one of them alive, and while keeping them alive turns out to be even harder than just catching them (not only Nuckelavee perished that night… some might still want revenge for that, some want to end the threat once and for all), one of them remains. The battle has been won.
THE AFTERMATH (27th and later)
As day breaks over the horizon, the true damage can be seen. One Nuckelavee is thrashing, captured in the closed enclave. It howls and shrieks and won’t be reasoned with. It hates everything and everyone, and seems to be incapable of speech. Wilders have decided they will keep it alive for a week, and not a day longer (that is till 3rd September OOCly). Nuckelavee have proven to be cunning creatures, and the risk of it escaping is just too great.
Aside from that issue, there is still clean-up to be done, and mourning for those who have fallen in battle. The Wilders agree to give the Nuckelavee corpses to those interested in acquiring them for study/experimentation, but otherwise they plan on burning everything that’s left.
The following two evenings, there’s a victory celebration at The Sordid Shield. Everyone still able to stand is welcome, -- and drinks are free! Unfortunately, not everyone is happily drinking; there are those who lost comrades and are mourning the fallen. Others came out alive but require medical attention that on-field healers cannot give. The general mood could be described as grimly triumphant. The unexpected threat has been taken care of, but not without a cost.
OOC NOTES
For those interested in studying the remains or the live Nuckelavee please refer to this space for questions/plans. The results of the research will be distributed at the beginning of September.
For plotting among yourselves, please use this post. General questions about this log can be directed here.
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She watches as the shadow limps closer and closer, and then looks over to Momo.] It'll charge soon. Circle any trees you see ahead, put them between you and it.
[Maria rubs her fingers together a little, generating some heat, and she reaches inside herself to grab at her fire magic... and her leg, her numerous other injuries throb in pain. It doesn't matter. She's going to smash it with a fireball if it gets any closer, and there's little it can do about it.
... She has all that extra built up mana, anyway. She could probably use to expend it.]
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Are you gonna be okay if you do that? You're already in bad shape, putting any more stress on your injuries is a hell of a risk.
[Granted, if it gets any nearer after she hits it, Momo will definitely take up meat shield and physical smashing duties, but he's concerned about her getting more injured without the creature actually getting to her.
That said, she also doesn't strike him as the type to be outright talked out of it, so he's trying the voice of reason route. He circles around the last section of the treeline, where the trees are a bit more widely spaced but still an extra barrier, still heading diagonally forwards but following her instruction to create extra cover. They're a few metres shy of making it out when the thing finally catches up close enough to be within line of sight, emerging from behind a tree another several metres behind them.
One of its legs is basically gone, broken and twisted so badly it doesn't even look like it could take weight. The horse head and neck is bearing some deep cuts as well, but it's the human head that's the worse for wear, looking like someone got literally halfway through removing it before being thrown off. It's not quite dangling, but it's wobbling around a bit dangerously with the creature's awkward gait.
Momo turns his upper body towards it but doesn't outright stop just yet, ready to throw the barrier he's been holding between them once Maria gets her shot in, in case just the fireball isn't enough to finish it. Or if he has to intervene before that.]
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[That is... yeah about how she feels at the moment. The fire sparks in the air, first as the wobbling, shimmering air that is visible above a flame, and then fully as she manifests it in her hands. It's distracting, though - the increased heart rate makes everything else throb in time with the pulse, and it just... hurts. Everything hurts. Now that she's sitting, it hurts even more as her body starts to try to relax.
But she won't be deterred. The most desperate hunts were always the most rewarding, and this is no different.
She waits until almost the last possible second, in truth, gathering power and gathering power and gathering power until she finally lets it loose at the nuckelavee. It's not so much a fireball as it is almost a wave of flame that cascades forth, and the sudden rush of it clears the snow between them and the nuckelavee, for better or worse, even as the creature's engulfed in it.
If it survives, it's definitely not going to survive with much.
Maria, on the other hand, seems spent, breathing hard and ragged and sickly, and the blood that had been oozing from her wounds renews with fervor.] ... How persistent, for something dying. One would think it'd retreat to try to recover.
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If they came for revenge, I guess it couldn't bring itself to completely retreat. [He doesn't really want to speculate too hard on their motivations in the midst of battle.] Anyway, however you feel about what happens to you, what happens to you matters to me. So I'll just hope my selfishness is enough to keep you alive.
[It's the way Momo's recently decided to reconcile with his opinion of himself - it's selfish for him to impose things on others, but it's usually for his idea of their own good. So if he's going to be a selfish person, then he's going to dig into that part of himself as much as he can to help people he cares about whether they want it or not.
He picks up speed as they get closer to the barrier and the snow starts to thin out. There is, thankfully, an open hole where the people trying to patch up the outer barrier haven't quite gotten around to yet, so he runs straight through, still holding the barrier he'd initally planned for their now cremated pursuer.
While the battle is indeed quieter than it was, there's still plenty going on, so he throws a shield around them as they pass through into the space between the two major barriers. Even if most of the remaining nuckelavee are already locked in combat, he's not risking an intercept. Especially since the inner barrier area, lacking quite so much of the snow, means he can pick up his speed for one last press and hopefully cross over the area in a matter of a few seconds.]
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Relaxing comes with more pinches and aches and pains, of course, because of course it does. She's starting to settle, and the cold isn't helping.] No one expects a Hunter to return from the Hunt. It'll be kinder to you if you learn that.
[It's keeping her alive for now, but she's making no promises about the future, as the sledge bumps and moves along the snow. Each of those little jostles, at least, helps keep her awake. She knows falling asleep now is going to be the worst news.
The din of battle returns, and Maria picks her head up a bit - regretting it, for the pain in her lower back screams out, and she has to drop her head again.
Yeah, she's tapped out. She also hopes they can make this last mad dash, even if the pickup in speed makes the bumps and jostling worse again. Mostly because it would be aggravating to get this far, only to fall here. And she'd have dragged down someone else.]
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[He's always had the mindset of offering his abilities in support of others in some way, disregarding how he might feel about it. It probably wasn't intended to be quite as extreme the way he was taught it, but that's just how he ended up taking it on.
With the shield Momo threw around them making an unfavourable target, they get most of the way across the area without trouble. However, Momo has to drop the shield a moment or two before they cross the inner barrier so the two don't interact, and a nuckelavee being chased down by a few Wilders sees a chance to try its luck.
At least, for the second it takes for Momo to grab one of his throwing knives from around his thigh and hurl it towards the creature's eye. A favourable angle means it hits home, making the beast falter with a screech and giving them the extra moment needed to pass through the inner barrier.
Momo lets out a breath and then continues dragging Maria towards one of the makeshift beds set up for healing, calling out to the local medics largely running the show.]
I need a couple other pairs of hands over here! [One look at Maria's condition is enough to get a few more people over as Momo finishes his dragging and slowly dispels the barrier, so she's lowered the fractional distance to the bed in a more gradual way. He's not experienced enough with major healing to be able to do a whole lot about major blood loss, but as soon as Maria is off the shield then he's tossing off his coat, grabbing a vial of something-or-other and rubbing it between his hands, something to enhance and speed up closing some of the wounds.
Without the coat, it's obvious he's been in the fight prior to now - his arms and shoulders are scratched up in several places, some glancing but some quite deep, and his forearms are starting to bruise quite heavily like he's had to catch some attacks on them at too short notice to shield. The only thing he seems to have stopped to do to his own injuries is put something on the scratches to stop himself getting infected in the interim, though.]
You'll have to go back to the city in this condition, but hopefully we can at least patch you up enough that you're not still pissing blood when you get there. Or less of it.
[Momo's language tends to get more crass when he's under specific kinds of pressure. He's moving to start sealing any wounds he can see that aren't obviously too deep for an immediate healing job - in turn, the other healers he called focus on the worse ones and start seeing what they can do to stem the bleeding until a proper healing job can be done. Salves and potions are passed around, a few of the healers murmuring urgently between themselves about how to handle it from here.]
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[Take it from the dying old woman on the makeshift sledge behind him. Besides, it reminds her too much of herself at that age, and she really doesn't think he's committed half the atrocities she did by that time.
She's cognizant of the battle around them, of the creature that breaks off to try an attack of opportunity, and though she reaches into the very tapped well of her magic for more fire, she is beaten to the punch as a knife lodges itself in the creature's eye.
She's starting to crash, though, and she knows it. She's barely aware that it was Momo that threw it - her mind's starting to fog up.
Really, she sort of half blacks out in the interim, and the next thing she knows, she's woken up by the feeling of magic, the stymieing of blood, and the rush of people around her, and over her. Only Momo is a familiar face among the ones hovering above her, and she frowns when she realizes the blood he has splattered on him isn't her own. No, not with wounds like that.] Is that all it is? ... I've done worse to myself. Sounds like I should have taken a third one.
[It's too bad most of her wounds are on her lower torso and hips - he could ask where she got the awful sword scars on her chest.
Also the third one would have killed her which, given the tone, kind of seems the point.]
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However, in a situation like this it means he's completely focused on the healing process and not anything about his own potential exhaustion or how much leaving his injuries open in favour of burning his magic on healing others is going to suck tomorrow. Yuki's probably going to verbally rip him a new one when he gets back to the city, but he doesn't care right now, and that only intensifies at Maria's suggestion of taking another. He gives her an aside glance that's really just genuinely concerned at this point, because he can read between the lines.]
Even if you don't care whether you survived this battle or not, I do, and the healers do. If you want to speak practically, someone throwing their life away and saying we should just accept it isn't going to make the guilt of the people who couldn't save them any less.
[If only Momo took his own advice literally ever, because he's had almost this exact same discussion before except he was the person trying to throw his life away. His hands move from place to place trying to help slow the bleeding, as a few of the other healers start trying to at least piece her leg together enough to transport her back to the city without making it even worse.]
Even if you say nobody expects a Hunter to return from the hunt, the Mirrorbound and the Wilders seem to be doing their damnedest to make sure everybody does. So today it's "kinder to us" to accept nobody's letting you die in a blaze of glory today.
[He's gotten used to being selfish where protecting other people is concerned, so while he is concerned for her mental state, he says that rather straightforwardly. Nobody needs an extra weight of guilt from tonight and one less person saved, no matter Maria's opinion of her work.]
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She's exhausted, and sore, and bleeding, and probably dying, and all she can think is to keep digging her feet in.] You're just... wasting your time. I'm already dead.
[Oh yeah, there's that, too.] Dead and gone and rotted to bones and dust. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you can't save me, in the end.
None of you can.
And I deserved all of it - Agh!
[That... that was someone resetting her hip, and the grind and crack makes her yelp in pain, even if the medications and spells are dulling it. She seems more awake and alert after that, though.] ... Gods, it would be far kinder to just put me down.
[She's lost her Bond, and lost her will to live, and lost her mind, she's pretty sure. She barely even recognizes where she is at this point. Wait, the outpost, still, she thinks, while they try to stabilize her leg, maybe?
The blood loss is making her woozy.]
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It's never nice to hear someone here is dead in their own world, but with Maria...somehow, it doesn't surprise him. It surprises him even less considering their conversation up to this point, though his eyes still soften into something more understanding of why she's behaving like this. He won't back down, though.]
If here is the only place you're alive, why would that make me want to keep you alive here any less? I don't know what you've done, and this is the last job I should be making judgements about who deserves to die and who doesn't in. At the very least, I've never seen you do anything here that makes me think you deserve to be put down. I respect your skills.
[He realises she's getting a bit spottier with her consciousness, though - the leg movement jumping her a bit more alert makes it stand out more. He figures it's the blood loss, so it's probably not the time to be making conversation for too long.
The healers put their heads together for a moment as if quickly discussing something. Momo leans in to listen, still trying to reach what he can to clear things up. They seem a bit hesitant to actually pose the suggestion to Maria, though, so Momo takes it up instead.]
They want to put you under magically before you pass out from blood loss. For stability, I'm guessing. Do you mind?
[There's a measured aspect to that question that says it's more of a "will you fight it" than an actual "do you mind". The last thing they need is a sleep spell backfire in this situation.]
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She's going to go into shock soon, which is such a surreal thought to her. Before she could lose twice or more this blood and still stay standing and fighting, but since she's been in this world...
She snorts, derisive, as he asks the question, hardly realizing she'd blacked out in the interim of answering and him starting to speak again.] No. Just do it.
[She doesn't want it. She doesn't want any of this. She sort of hopes she doesn't wake up, once they start the spell. That would be nice.
Sleeping... it sounds so nice right now.]
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But that's where he'll end it, because they have no time and it's clear to him that Maria's already fading in and out. It seems best to put her under as quickly as possible, so he finishes the wound he's working on and shifts back, nodding to the other healers. Two of them move around to near Maria's head, beginning to weave the spell. Enchantment isn't his forte, so he can't put someone to sleep himself, but he'd like to hang around to help them transport someone of Maria's size.]
See you on the other side. Alive. [He sounds determined, like he wants to convince them both of that, but that's about all he'll say before the two healers begin slowly moving along Maria's form, on either side as if bringing the spell down through the whole body. Given the situation, Momo figures it's this world's equivalent of a medically induced coma, since it's the first time he's handled someone this severely injured.]